


Wrong to Right

by kathiann



Series: Wrong Series [2]
Category: The Mentalist
Genre: F/M, Romance, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2009-08-10
Updated: 2009-08-28
Packaged: 2017-12-11 14:12:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/799617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kathiann/pseuds/kathiann
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to "Wrong, Wrong, Wrong", which worked better as a stand alone. Moved the second chapter here. Usually it doesn't matter when Jane is wrong, no one knows, but this time, it does.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Anyone who reads this and thinks they've seen this before isn't crazy. This used to be chapter 2 of my fic "Wrong, Wrong, Wrong", but I decided I liked that one better as a stand alone. SO, here I am turning this into a sequel, a second story. Follows right after the first. If you have read this before, don't feel that you have to review again, as it is after all the same thing.

It was early, but he was awake. That's what happened when he slept at work, he woke before everyone got in. This was a good thing. It enabled him to change clothes and shave. And if it was a good day he'd get breakfast and coffee for the team.

Today was not a good day. But he went out and got muffins for everyone and coffee for Lisbon. He had to have a reason to see her hand so that he could see the ring. He had to see for himself if she had really done it, or it had all been a huge misunderstanding.

He arrived back at the building just after she had, he saw her getting in the elevator. She looked happy, even from behind she looked happy. Her shoulders seemed lighter and she was walking with a lilt in her step. And she was smiling, at the copy boy who worked on the second floor. There was only one thing that could cause that, it had happened. It hadn't been a dream.

He almost turned and walked out of the building, but then what would he do with all the muffins and coffee to sweet for him to want to drink? Slowly he made his way through security and up to the third floor. Maybe it had been his imagination, maybe he was reading her wrong again, after all, look at what had happened last time. He'd ended up outside a very nice restaurant watching someone else propose to the only person who meant anything to him anymore.

He smiled when he walked in and saw Rigsby sitting at his desk. "I brought muffins!"

Rigsby's head popped up, "Alright, free breakfast."

Jane sat the box of muffins on the table between his couch and Cho's desk, grabbed on and with coffee and muffin in hand went to see Lisbon in her office. He walked in without knocking-no need to make her suspect anything-and smiled when she scowled at him.

"Good morning my dear, I brought you breakfast." He held out the coffee and muffin for her to take.

She grabbed the cup first, looking at the marks on the side of the cup to make sure it was the one she usually drank before smiling and grabbing the muffin.

While Lisbon had been examining her coffee Jane had been examining her fingers. It was true. There on her left hand, fourth finger, was a ring. He felt his smile falter a little, but was confident that Lisbon wouldn't be able to notice.

"Congratulations."

"For what?" She was trying to act like she didn't know what he was talking about, but Jane could tell that she was trying hard not to smile.

"For your engagement, congratulations."

She let the smile lose then, beaming at him as if she was the happiest woman in the world, and she probably was.

"Can I see your ring?"

"Oh, right." She held her hand up to him and he toke it in his leaning over slightly to look at it.

It was a small ring, not more that a carat and a half. There were three stones, lined up next to each other and almost flush with the band. The band itself was platinum. Jane turned her hand side to side looking at the ring. The guy had picked well, with the diamonds set in the band it would be harder for it to snag on something, and it fit on her hand just right, it wasn't too big, but at the same time, the diamonds were large enough that it would be admired by most of the people who saw it.

"What do you think?" Lisbon asked, and he realized that she was nervous, she actually cared what he thought.

"It's lovely, just lovely. He is a lucky man, and he has good taste." He smiled at her, not his normal 1000 watt grin, but a soft kind smile, that tried to convay all of the emotion he was feeling.

"Yea, he does have good taste." She took her hand back from him and looked at the ring on it, still trying to get used to the weight on her finger.

"What's his name?" He asked softly, almost affair that if he found out who it was it would make it all real.

"Bill."

"His name is Bill?"

"Right, Bill, a name short for William."

"What's his last name?"

"You'll find out when you get the invitation in the mail."

"Why don't you want to tell me?"

"Because the first thing you'd do is go out there and ask Van Pelt to look him up for you, and I don't want that."

"Oh like you haven't already run a background check on him."

"No, I haven't Jane, you should know me better than that."

Jane just kept his smile in place, although, now it was even more forced than it had been before. "Congratulations Lisbon." He said one last time before leaving the office and going to his couch.

He'd been wrong again. He thought for sure Lisbon would have checked out any man that she had agreed to marry. This was not a good thing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have we discussed before my inability to have original thoughts? Bonus points to anyone who knows where I stole Lisbon's fiancé from. Not betaed, so please point out any horrendous mistakes to me so I can fix them. Thanks.

Jane lay on the sofa, eyes closed all day long. Or rather most the day. They had wrapped up a case yesterday, and were working through some cold cases while waiting for their next active one. Normally he would have been up, looking through the files, doing his logic puzzles or Sudoku, talking with the team. Van Pelt was wearing a new blouse today, and Rigsby couldn't help but notice. Normally he would have jumped at the chance to teas them both, but today, today he just couldn't do it.

He had been thinking all night and now all day too. Wondering how he could have got it so wrong. How could he have misread it? How could Lisbon have been in a relationship long enough for engagement to have been the next logical step without him noticing?

He had got of his couch a grand total of three times during the day. The first time was when Lisbon had come into the office and Van Pelt had noticed the ring. She had seemed to know that Lisbon was in a relationship. In fact while she admired the ring, she actually wasn't nearly as surprised as Jane had been. Neither were Rigsby or Cho, who both offered their boss their congratulations. Jane had felt obliged to stand at the same time and oo and ah over the ring again, even though every second spent looking at it killed him.

The second time he got up was to make a cup of tea that sat cold and untouched on the desk next to him. The desk he never used. The third time was to answer the call of nature. But that hardly counted. He'd still spent the whole time thinking about Lisbon and that mystery man Bill. He had to meet him. Short of following them again, he wasn't sure how he was going to be able to.

He lay there as Cho left, fifteen minutes early, to take his mother out for their regular monthly dinners. He'd heard him complaining about it once, but knew that deep down he enjoyed spending time with his mother. He listened as Rigsby got up and left exactly on time. He was trying to hide the fact that he had a date tonight with that cougar he'd met all those months ago when they were working on the murder of that socialite drug dealer. Rigsby was slightly embarrassed by the fact that he was still seeing her, and didn't want Van Pelt to know. Jane knew though, Rigsby never was able to hide anything from him.

And Grace knew too, though she tried to pretend that she didn't and that if she did know that it didn't bother her. She knew she had no claim on him, but it still didn't help that she was starting to fall for him. She waited until almost an hour after Rigsby left before she packed up her bag and left. During that time most of the other agents and office staff had left as well. Jane knew from experience that he and Lisbon were the only ones left on this floor. He was just getting ready to get up and go to her office when the elevator slid open again and someone stepped out.

Jane half sat up, just enough so that he could see who it was that came off the elevator. Jane would recognize that face anywhere. Sure it had been dark in that cab and he'd been watching from across the street, but you can guarantee he had committed that face to his memory once that ring had been pulled out. It was Bill.

Jumping up before he had a chance to talk himself out of it and walked over to the man standing by the elevator looking a little lost with all the half walls and closed doors.

"You must be Bill." Jane said coming up to him and sticking his hand out for the other man to shake.

"Yes, and you are?" Bill looked at him with an odd look on his face, wondering how this blond man knew who he was.

"I'm Patrick Jane, I work with Teresa. Lovely ring you picked out for her. Just beautiful." Jane was still holding on to his hand, not letting it go. He wanted to get a reading on this man and wouldn't stop until he got what he wanted or Lisbon came out of her office and saw them.

"Thank you?" It was more of a question as Jane was still holding to his hand rather tightly.

"Tell me about yourself Bill." Jane said, guiding him with his hand towards the bullpen and away from Lisbon's office.

"Excuse me?"

"I want to get to know you Bill. We here in the unit really care about Lisbon; we only want the best for her. What do you do for a living?"

"I'm an accountant."

"Really? Do you work for a large firm or independently?"

"Independently. Why?"

"Just wondering. Lisbon wasn't expecting you to pick her up tonight, why are you here?"

"I'm marrying the woman; I can come to see her at work."

"If you just wanted to visit at work, why did you wait so long, everyone's gone."

"If you must know Teresa was concerned about me meeting one of her co workers. I believe she called him a busy body know it all who's worse than every nosy neighbor ever portrayed on television rolled into one."

Jane didn't have a response for that. It was a rather creative way to describe him. He wasn't sure if he should be honored that she thought up something so creative or insulted. "Just one more question for you before you go to surprise your fiancé, she failed to mention what your last name was earlier when she was telling us about you, probably trying to keep it from that busy body."

"Oh, Compton, Bill Compton."

"Nice to meet you B-" His reply was interrupted by Lisbon calling his name from the door way.

"Jane! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Jane let go of his hand in a heartbeat. "Just meeting Bill here, you didn't say how handsome he was."

"What business of it to you? Don't you have somewhere to be?" Lisbon came into the room to stand next to Bill who had stood him. He bent over and gave her a light peck on the lips in greeting.

"It's ok love, I was just getting to know your co-worker here. He seems like a good man, he's cares enough about you to ask about me, he seems like a good friend."

"He's not a friend. He's busy body know it all who can't bear the thought that he doesn't know everything about everyone."

Jane watched as Bill brought his hands up to her shoulders and stood close to her, rubbing her hands on her arms and murmuring to her in a calming voice. He watched as Lisbon visibly relaxed and he felt that twisting in his gut that he hadn't felt in ages or at least since last night.

He couldn't abide sitting there, watching someone else comfort her while he was sitting there. He remembered when it had been his job to sooth her and comfort her. When he was the only one who could get an emotional response out of her. But here he was, watching as this other man got the one emotion out of her that Jane had never been able to. Love.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Bill, I'm going to go, you two have a lovely evening." He quickly grabbed his jacket and snuck out of the room, not wanting to wait for the elevator he took the stairs to the parking lot and almost ran to his car.

He got behind the wheel of his car and drove aimlessly. He didn't even think Lisbon had noticed he was leaving. She really did seem like she was in love. That thought didn't do anything to quell the sinking pit that used to be his stomach. He pulled over into the parking lot of a small park near the CBI building. He had to think and he couldn't so it at the CBI building. Not while there was a chance that _they_ were still there.

He would give them a few hours then head back. He didn't need Van Pelt to do a background check for him. Contrary to popular belief he did know how to use a computer. Sure all he had was a name and a profession, but he could still find plenty on him with that. A set of finger prints would have been better, but, he'd take what he could get.

What he wasn't going to do while waiting was analyze his feelings. The only reason he was even concerned is because he had been wrong about this whole situation. He had to redeem himself and save face somehow. There just had to be a way. He was after all, just a concerned friend. Nothing more, nothing less.

He groaned and leaned his head against the steering wheel. Even he didn't believe that.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been having too much fun playing with the Tiffany's website. Here's the link to the ring:  
> www.tiffanyEngagement/Item.aspx?GroupSKU=GRP10012#f+0/0/0/0/4005/4005


End file.
